Dem Governors Attack Environmentalists On Stimulus

Democratic governors are slamming environmental advocates, in one of the first fights to break out within the Democratic party over the shape of the stimulus bill being fashioned by Congress and the new Obama administration.

The governors want money pumped into roads and bridges. Environmentalists say that just means more cars, and therefore more pollution, and want greener initiatives instead.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[lungfish]

Language has to change. There is no such thing as "garbage", its all resources of one kind or another and it needs to be treated like that.
Sustainability is a huge concept and the politicians of today have not giving the word nearly the amount of consideration that they should.
We need sustainable energy, transportation, food production, resource management etc... most of these people have no clue and are so beholden to corporations that "greemwash" their image and other techniques of paying lip service to the marketing aspects of Green without actually committing to changing the way they do business.
Fact is that if Sustainability is the standard, meaning that the use cycle is efficient and birth to death responsibility for the resources that go into the product is enforced, then many, many businesses and products would no longer be produced or available.
How many office knik knaks with the office logo do we need? How many little green army men? How many little pieces of crap that end up in landfills do we need? Landfills aren't sustainable either....
We have to radically change what we do, how we do it and the reasons for doing it...

[sloreader]

Just my opinion but it seems like meaningful infrastructure work needs to be done across the country with regard to transportation, power generation and delivery of basic human services (water, sewer and garbage). The Greener the better as far as I am concerned. By contrast, telephone/cable companies do not seem to be complaining so I would suspect they should probably be left to fend for themselves. No doubt people watch more TV during a Depression.

P.S. Do cell phone sales people cop a serious attitude, or is it just me? They should want immunity!

[redhot200822]

Right now is the best time to do mass transit. With all the foreclosures, the government can take property for pennies on the dollar.

[sloreader]

They can always take for cents on the dollar. Ask Ms. Kelo, she found out the hard way.

[gfs5541]

I disagee with the premise of that article. It isn't "Trees v.s. Roads", it's more like "Mass Transit v.s. Roads" and that's got to stop. We need to vastly upgrade Mass Transit networks in our major cities. We need a "21st century" intercontinental railroad that mostly composed of maglev technology. We need to upgrade the nation's air traffic control system to a GPS based system and we need to implement NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/SATS.htmll). With the exception of some road projects, we really need to focus more on transit infrastructure, not roads.

[Bettysdad]

The terms of the debate have to be changed.

"Environmentalists" are "the people."

Those who oppose them are "polluters."

[RTIII]

KEEP ON SAYING IT.
.

[harriscrl3]

High speed rail. High speed rail its transportation and enviromentally friendly and you can start putting people back to work do so.

Carol

[joshuahmcdonald]

THIS!!!!!

[Daniboy]

Tax cattle and hogs for CO2 emissions-raise price of groceries for all us-go Greenies

[joshuahmcdonald]

You gonna be able to eat all that money when we can no longer grow our crops in the current farming belts? Didn't think so.

Economics is no longer a relevant argument as our economy is already in shambles. Please, grow up and realize that we have greater problems than your pocketbook.

[Daniboy]

Payback time to Unions-all government jobs will be union-$30 an hour-but Gov. has plenty of money-no sweat

[Daniboy]

Can we pay people to take mass transit? They are already subsidized. Ban the terrible car!

[alguien]

i think that we need to have both environmental initiatives in place AND have our roads and bridges repaired.

i don't even know why there's an arguement about this.

[joshuahmcdonald]

THIS!

[research]

yes!

[RTIII]

That's also what I was thinking as I read this.
.

[maori]

How stupid.
So, we're supposed to drive our electric cars over potholes and faulty, overcrowded bridges?
Wow. Sometimes I think environmentalists won't be happy until we're all living in caves.

[joshuahmcdonald]

Perhaps if you gave our arguments some consideration instead of your reactionary drivel, like this comment, you'd understand better.

[CarmanK]

No more roads to no where, no more governor special projects that violate the environment. Obama stressed the importance of repairs and maintenance of existing infrastructure. The existing roads and bridges are in dire shape. Sewer and water systems all across the country are failing and thus fouling our environment. The governors need to be just as frugal about targeting the stimulus to projects ,on the table, that will not add to sprawl or open virgin territories to development. SMART GROWTH HAS TO BE THE CODE OF THE DAY. Also, I would like to see the feds interject more authority over local projects. The ChesapeakE Bay has received millions in federal dollars to "clean" it up. Local jurisdictions, through zoning and special exceptions, continue to add to Bay pollution and have done nothing in recent years to really solve the Bay's problems. Maryland's "Critical Areas" legislation is a joke and the subdivisions ignore its major provisions in favor of Personal Greed and economic development which have trumped efforts to preserve and clean up the Bay for far too long. No money to states for new projects without full environmental impact statements , with the Bushies gone, perhaps we can really believe the EPA, Fish and Wildlife and the Dept of the Interior once again.

[NWBrunette]

These Governors are so wrong on this. It's just the same old same old. We don't need any more roads and bridges. In OR and WA they want to build a new 12 lane freeway bridge over the Columbia river within a few miles of an existing 10 lane freeway bridge over the same river - its just another big boondoggle - and I'm sure every other State has a similar example. We need public transit, alternative energy, school building upgrades rural telecom upgrades, etc. etc., etc. Are there really no Democratic leaders anywhere who can think outside the box?

[nabrum]

"These Governors are so wrong on this."

No you're wrong. I live in WA, and the road repairs/building is not a boondoggle. Public transit doesn't work well everywhere. Yes we need alternate energy, school upgrades, etc, but we also need the other parts of the infrastructure that the Govs are in favor of. The Environmentalists have gotten far to "wacky" and extreme. Moderation is in order.

[joshuahmcdonald]

You both need to realize that we need both smart construction on our current infrastructure and out-of-the-box new ideas. There is room for everyone but we need to stop the name calling.

[NWBrunette]

How is building a 12 lane freeway bridge literally next door to a 10 lane freeway bridge a good idea? It's utter nonsense and a classic example of "boondoggle". And if you think it's not rampant in this country you're not paying attention. The Govs are doing nothing but speaking up for the same old special interests and the same old approach. It must change. Moderation as a response to the nonsense of the bush years is not a virtue.

[starlady7]

I agree and disagree with both sides. We need to upgrade transportation, but in green ways. How about going for a massive mass transit project, which would involve thousands of jobs. Japan has the Bullet train to connect big cities and is very fast and comfortable. Mass transit would help decrease CO2 emmisions. Repair our infra-structure as in bridges, levies, dams, and any scheduled roads that would help reduce excessive traffic.

[dryrock]

You make a great point. I no longer fly. I take the train for any distance more than 2 hours, where service is available. For instance, it takes as long to fly from Seattle to Portland as compared to Amtrak and driving. You can take the train, which is much more comfortable and less stressful, in the same time and for about $20. It is getting to where the train is faster than both driving and flying - and makes so much more sense in every way.

Also, 21st century train technology in this country would eliminate the problem of NIMBYs for new airport space and noise.

Also, to me, "shovel-ready" should mean the environmental impacts have already been completed, or are near completion. Otherwise, to me it isn't 'shovel-ready'.

[enquiringmind]

Environmentalists and condressional democrats need to drop their petty idealogy and look at the bigger picture. Really..



The number of oxygen-deprived "dead zones" in the world's oceans has been increasing since the 1970s and is now nearly 150, threatening fisheries as well as humans who depend on fish, the U.N. Environment Program announced Monday in unveiling its first-ever Global Environment Outlook Year Book.

These "dead zones" are caused by an excess of nitrogen from farm fertilizers, sewage and emissions from vehicles and factories. In what experts call a “nitrogen cascade,” the chemical flows untreated into oceans and triggers the proliferation of plankton, which in turn depletes oxygen in the water.

OR'

The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge across 300 acres of East Tennessee last month was only one of more than 1,300 similar dumps across the United States — most of them unregulated and unmonitored — that contain billions more gallons of fly ash and other byproducts of burning coal.

Which do you suggest as a bigger picture..I won't even bother to show you much worse incidents world wide..where they have no environmental regulation. Papua New Guinea, Nigerias Delta..India's Bhopal..

Environment is not about the US..it is about the collective damage to the planet..You CAN:T continue to ignore it.

[joshuahmcdonald]

Thank you!